1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to mobile devices, and more particularly to automatically adjusting the initial reminder volume in a mobile device based on acoustic environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
A well known function of mobile devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or Pocket PCs is the provision of a reminder for the user to perform a task, attend to a calendar event, etc. When a reminder is presented on a mobile device, the volume may be either too quiet to hear, such that the reminder passes unnoticed (particularly when in a pocket, purse, etc.) or too loud such that the reminder becomes an annoyance to other people in the vicinity of the user.
The problem has also been addressed somewhat in wireless telephony by the provision of a vibrate mode and/or downloadable ring tones.
Some users choose to play a wave file (.wav), rather than the default reminder sound. However, the selected wave file may also be either too loud or too soft depending on circumstance. Another approach is to periodically manually adjust the volume of the mobile device when changing its' location.
All of the foregoing approaches to solving this problem require the user to selectively adjust how the reminder or notification is presented. As a result, these solutions depend on forethought of where the device will be when a reminder occurs.